Keir Starmer blasts hated change to England footie shirt on Sun’s new politics show and demands kits must be cheaper

The Three Lions’ strips were unveiled on Monday with the traditional red cross altered to one with navy, light blue and purple.

But Nike and the FA have “no plans” to recall the new England home kit amid a row over its altered St George’s flag.

Both the home and away kits were released earlier this week, with England set to debut them during the upcoming March internationals.

It is thought to be a nod to the 1966 World Cup winners’ training kit – which contained blue, red and purple.

The change led to some labelling the shirt “woke” as they called on the manufacturer to revert back to the usual colours.

But according to The Mail, Nike will not succumb to pressure from some England fans.

It is thought to be a nod to the 1966 World Cup winners’ training kit – which contained blue, red and purple.

The change led to some labelling the shirt “woke” as they called on the manufacturer to revert back to the usual colours.

But according to The Mail, Nike will not succumb to pressure from some England fans.

It is understood the flag alteration was the work of a Nike designer, but was also signed off by the FA.

And the FA insist the decision was made to “honour the classic colour regime of 1966 training gear”.

New kit releases are one of the highlights in the build-up to a summer tournament, but England fans have also been left frustrated by the cost of the Three Lions’ new jerseys.

England’s “authentic” home and away shirts for the European Championships have been priced at £124.99 for adults and a whopping £119.99 for children.

MAN OF MANY FACES

Sir Keir Starmer has become known as a major flip-flopper since he became leader of the Labour Party.

Here The Sun takes a look at some of his most blatant U-turns.

BREXIT

Sir Keir spent the entire 2017 parliament trying to reverse Brexit.

When he ran as Labour leader in 2020, Sir Keir did not repeat his call for a second referendum on Brexit, but he did endorse freedom of movement. After becoming leader, he said he would not cross the red line of accepting freedom of movement for EU citizens under any future negotiation of post-Brexit trading arrangements with Brussels. He has however pledged a closer trading relationship with Brussels.

NATIONALISATION

When he ran for the Labour leadership, Sir Keir vowed to bring public services, including rail, mail, energy and water, into “common ownership”.

But the pledge didn’t last long. As early as September 2021, he ruled out nationalising the six big energy companies and in July 2022, shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves ditched the commitment to nationalise more public services in one fell swoop.

The party still intends to bring train operators into public ownership but only when current franchises expire.

OUTSOURCING

One of Sir Keir’s other leadership pledges included putting an end the involvement of the private sector in the NHS. Again, it didn’t last long as it was dropped in the summer of 2022, with Sir Keir saying the party would have to continue with some level or private provision in the health service.

TUITION FEES

Sir Keir promised he would end the “national scandal” of student debt by abolishing tuition fees in 2020.

Changing his stance, he said the country found itself in a “different financial situation”.

GREEN PROSPERITY PLAN

Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves vowed to invest £28 billion a year on green projects when she addressed the first in-person conference under Sir Keir back in 2021.

But in one of the most screeching U-turns, Labour announced in February it would spend just over £4.7bn a year.

Sir Keir Starmer almost quit after the crushing defeat in the Hartlepool by-election in 2021, according to a new biography of the Labour leader.

Three years later, the former director of public prosecutions looks likely to be the next prime minister.

Obviously, the job is not in the bag until all the votes are declared but the odds are undeniably in his favour after a series of by-election triumphs and a sustained and significant lead over the Tories in the polls.

But how did the London-born lawyer manage to get there? Apart from the obvious luck of finding himself as Opposition chief at a time when the Tories are doing themselves no favours.

Many, Sir Keir included, would be quick to point to the change he brought about, including a shift from the left to the right.

Despite serving in Jeremy Corbyn’s shadow cabinet for several years, the Labour Party of 2024 looks very different to the one that suffered its worst defeat in 84 years back in 2019.

Sir Keir was ruthless in distancing the party from his predecessor – and even swiftly suspended Mr Corbyn after he claimed that antisemitism within Labour had been “dramatically overstated for political reasons” in response to a damning report by the Equality and Human Rights Commission.

He also made major constitutional changes to the Labour Party rulebook – which infuriated the left.

And despite leaving him open to accusations of being a major flip-flopper, he dropped several policy pledges made during his leadership campaign, including ending outsourcing in the NHS.

The team of people around him also looks unrecognisable from just a few years back.

In the last reshuffle, Sir Keir promoted a handful of Blairites to the shadow cabinet and his squad of advisers now includes the likes of former civil servant and Partygate interrogator Sue Gray.

While so far the Labour leader has been unwilling to set out any clear policies, it is evident the party is no longer scared to take on issues that were once traditionally seen as weak points for the party.  Some of these include the economy and illegal migration. Many would also say his leadership has been instrumental in fostering a sense of unity within party – but perhaps when things go well, it is not that difficult to get along.